Jenny Simanowitz Turns Tears to Laughter in “Who’s Afraid of the Jewish Mother?”

Be prepared to laugh along at her one-woman show.

Remaining upbeat in the face of hardship, cruelty and prejudice is a tough act; Jenny Simanowitz, however, does just that in her latest show Who’s Afraid of the Jewish Mother?, not only laughing in the face of life’s inhumanities but composing songs about it.

A Jewish mother herself, the South ­African born Simanowitz uses the communication cabaret format that she developed after working with Keith Johnstone (creator of the improv mainstay Theatresports), combining stand-up, theater, music and audience interaction to communicate a deeply personal story. Exploring both the clichés and realities of Jewish motherhood, she uses self-deprecating humor liberally, her candor her most powerful tool. With ­Viennese sentiments towards Jews still somewhat ambiguous, Simanowitz admits that “writing a piece like this in Austria is still like a kind of ‘coming out’… but I have found that when I brought Jewish humor and anecdotes into my shows, my Austrian audiences loved it!”

Musical accompaniment is handled by her partner in crime, African-American singer Margaret Carter; they join forces for the duet Blacks and Jews, a game of one-upsmanship to see which people has suffered more!

Who’s Afraid of the Jewish Mother?

May 8, 20:00, Café Korb.